Submitted by: Submitted by Campbell386
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Category: English Composition
Date Submitted: 10/23/2010 12:03 PM
Assessed Discussion Question Week 2
Working in Community Mental Healthcare or any healthcare organization in general as a
practitioner of healthcare our actions in what services and jobs we perform will always put us being
either on the right side of the law or the wrong side of the law when delivering care. Simple mistakes can
be easily made when it involves patient care caused by carelessness and mislead judgment. Healthcare
workers are exposed to numerous risks that is associated in patient care, but also in the business side of
the industry as well that is universal such as business financial matters, HIPPA and Privacy laws, and
billing issues as well so it encompasses the entire area of healthcare. This is why healthcare risk
managers, compliance and legal departments are needed to handle such complexities.
Examples of things that can make healthcare workers become noncompliant and negligent are
abuse, neglect, illegal use of restraints, violation of HIPPA and d Privacy laws, Medicare and Medicaid
fraud, medical errors, medication errors, and the list goes on. The principle that govern such acts or
liabilities would be unintentional torts negligence. This is an doctrine that t states a person is liable for
harm that is foreseeable consequence of his or her actions. The negligence component of the tort is the
omission to do something in which a reasonable person would not do or doing something which a
prudent and reasonable man would not do using the right judgment within the scope of his or her
practice. Doctors, Nurses, Pharmacists, and Therapist would all fall under this.
The legal principal that governs liability would be that the healthcare professional is owed a duty
of care to the plaintiff (patient). This causes the healthcare worker to be in breach of duty of care, which
caused the plaintiff (patient) who suffered injury as a result of the defendant (healthcare worker)
negligent actions. Duty of care would be...